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MINING NEWS: Liberty Star drills White Sox target at Iliamna With three times the acreage of Pebble, Liberty Star’s expectations for its Big Chunk properties in Southwestern Alaska are very large Steve Sutherlin Mining News Associate Editor
Tucson-based Liberty Star Gold Corp. started a boring project Oct. 23 on its expansive Big Chunk project properties, which border the Northern Dynasty Mineral Ltd. Pebble project near Iliamna in Southwestern Alaska. Drilling was scheduled to last only until Oct. 30, due to the late start, according to James A. Briscoe, Liberty Star president.
A Zonge Engineering geophysical crew conducting induced polarization electrical surveys from Aug. 15 through Sept. 15 found a significant induced polarization anomaly in the northern portion of the Big Chunk properties. The target, White Sox, lies about nine miles northwest of the Pebble deposit. The company’s program this year calls for 2,000 feet of drilling for initial core hole testing of the White Sox target.
“We want to get a few holes in the stuff so we can understand it, and then we’ll have a major program for next spring,” Briscoe said.
The company has a very large land package, a 237 square mile, 981 claim block — the largest single claim block staked at one time in Alaska history. Big Chunk is on the same volcanic feature as Pebble, an ancient sub-surface caldera.
“We’ve got three quarters of it and Northern Dynasty has one quarter, so statistically we might have three times the minerals of Pebble,” Briscoe said. “What we’re looking for is another Pebble, or two, or three.” A raisin bagel The Pebble and Big Chunk properties have frequently been described as having a donut shape, but Briscoe said, a more apt visualization may be obtained by thinking of the structure as a large raisin bagel. By this way of thinking, mineral deposits could be expected to be distributed randomly, but somewhat evenly throughout the structure, much as the raisins find their place within a bagel during the mixing of the dough.
Liberty Star has spent about $2 million this year looking for those raisins, Briscoe said, adding that 15 people and a helicopter were on the site all summer long.
The beauty of Liberty Star’s situation, Briscoe said, is that is has more land but has spent less than 10 percent of the $25 million Northern Dynasty spent to acquire Pebble.
“We have a gigantic financial leverage, and we own 100 percent of our acreage,” he said.
On the other hand, the proximity of Liberty Star’s prospect to Pebble promises synergy, because both projects likely can use the same road to tidewater, and share the cost of bringing in the massive amounts of electrical power that will be needed to operate the mines.
Briscoe said it was well worth braving extreme subfreezing temperatures in December 2003 to stake the claims, because most of the company’s investment can be funneled to detailed studies of the property.
“We have a cadre of experts, so it’s an exciting project from that aspect as well,” Briscoe said. “We have a world-class group of geoscientists working on this project.”
With White Sox, the company’s geologic, geostructural, space imagery and detailed aeromagnetic studies have identified 21 anomalies representing potential mineral centers, the company said. Over the summer field season approximately 9,303 samples were collected to be analyzed by accredited analytical labs for 42 elements.
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